Afghan suicide attack kills 16, including 4 NATO soldiers

A Taliban suicide bomber killed 16 people, including 10 civilians and four NATO soldiers, in an attack in eastern Afghanistan Tuesday, officials said, as foreign troops wind down their war against the insurgents.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying one of its suicide bombers had blown himself up near a NATO patrol in the province of Parwan, north of the capital Kabul.

The attack comes as Afghanistan is mired in political crisis, with a bitter row raging over allegations of fraud in the presidential runoff election.

Two foreigners injured in attack on US consulate vehicle in Herat, Afghanistan

HERAT: At least two foreign security personnel were wounded in an attack on a US consulate vehicle in the western Afghan city of Herat on Wednesday, officials said.

The vehicle was on its way to the airport when an unidentified gunman on a motorbike shot at it with a rocket-propelled grenade in Enjeel district of the city, district chief Basher Ahmad told AFP.

Nawaz meets British FM; Pakistan’s role against terror lauded

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met with British Foreign Minister William Hague in Islamabad on Thursday and discussed bilateral relations and regional situation, DawnNews reported.

Nawaz Sharif said that “Pakistan is with the international community to bring peace and stability in Afghanistan”.

Taliban attack: Three Indians killed, close shave for 50 others

The bodies of three Indian workers killed in Tuesday's Taliban attack on a guest house in Kabul are being flown home. While the families are shattered, top Indian government sources have told NDTV that it could have been much worse. Fifty other Indians were also in the same compound that was attacked; they are safe. Sources have told NDTV, however, that the attack was not targeted at Indians but at the foreign company and its links to supplying NATO.

The Indians worked at a Dubai based company's guest house. The company's personnel who also live in the guest house supplied food, water and fuel to NATO forces in Kabul.

Pakistan should hold talks with Taliban: Fazl

ISLAMABAD: Welcoming the initiation of Doha peace process, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Wednesday reiterated his desire that the Pakistan government should also hold talks with Taliban to bring peace and stability in the region.

“The use of force does not work all the time and in all situations,” said the JUI-F chief while talking to a group of reporters after his meeting with a delegation headed by the Special Representative of United Nations (UN) Secretary General on Afghanistan Jan Kubis.

Militants attack Nato containers in Khyber; six killed

PESHAWAR: Six people were killed when militants attacked three Nato containers in Shagai area of Jamrud tehsil of the Khyber tribal region on Monday.

Security forces were engaged in a firefight with the militants who attacked the containers and set them on fire.

As a result, six people, including the drivers of the containers were killed.

Khyber is among Pakistan’s seven semi-autonomous tribal districts near the Afghan border, rife with homegrown insurgents and home to a number of militant organisations.

Rasmussen rules out decision on future force size

BRUSSELS: As NATO defence ministers began a two-day meeting here on Tuesday, the alliance secretary-general ruled out an immediate decision on the number of troops that would stay in Afghanistan post 2014.

“I wouldn’t expect this meeting to make decisions on the exact number of troops and trainers after 2014,” Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters. NATO and ISAF defence ministers would adopt guidelines for the new mission in Afghanistan, he said.

About the shape of the Resolute Support mission, beginning in 2015, he said certain elements were already clear and that it would be a non-combat campaign with a much smaller number of troops and trainers.

Around 24 killed in JUI-F Kurram rally blast

ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR/QUETTA : A bomb blast struck a JUI-F public meeting in central Kurram on Monday, killing as many as 24 persons and injuring over 50 others, including two candidates of the religious party.However, a spokesman of the Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl confirmed that over 50 people were injured.

Around 3000 people were attending the rally, jointly organised by the party’s candidates from NA-37 and NA-38 Haji Munir Khan Orakzai and Ainuddin Shakir at a local seminary in Sewak village of Para Chamkani area, when the bomb planted at the site went off.

Earthquake rocks Pakistan, tremors felt in Kashmir and Afghanistan

Islamabad:  Earthquake jolts were felts across Afghanistan and many parts of northern and central Pakistan on Thursday, leaving at least three persons injured in Peshawar city.

According to reports, 5.9-magnitude earthquake occurred at around 11.30 am and was felt in Islamabad, Rawalpindi‚ Peshawar‚ Lahore, Muzaffarabad‚ Chitral and Malakand.

The quake was especially severe in Peshawar, where it was lasted almost 30 seconds, TV channels reported. At least three persons were injured in the northwestern city of Pakistan, officials told the media.